For our first-ever Women in Comedy Issue, we bring you wit, wisdom, and war stories from some of the world's most hilarious women—Maya Rudolph, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Silverman, and more. Today, Chelsea Handler talks her talk show, her famous friends, her nude selfies, and why she'll never apologize (at least not publicly).

You're one of a few women to ever have a successful late-night show. Why move to Netflix for 'Chelsea,' your new talk show?

I wanted Netflix to pay for the college training I never had—to learn about politics, science, the galaxy. The show is about learning, with me as an idiot. We traveled all over the world. In Tokyo, I went to geisha training school. I took my shirt off to change into a kimono, and the woman I was with almost had a heart attack because the cameras were all around. But you know what? The whole idea is to desensitize the nudity thing. That's the point with all the naked pictures I post of myself online—to have them not be news. The fact that they still are annoys the shit out of me.

That's the point with all the naked pictures I post of myself online—to have them not be news.

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Do you consider yourself to be shameless?

I don't have a lot of shame. That doesn't mean I can't feel bad about the way someone reacts to me or about something I read about myself online. But I don't have a lot of guilt, no. I've always been this way. I'm missing a chip. I feel liberated and I want other people to feel liberated, and I'm really intent on being very truthful about who I am. I think comedy has to come from your authentic point of view. Like, I don't think I have a great body. I always want to lose five pounds. But if I talked about how fat I was, that wouldn't make sense.

You started as a outsider. Now you're the consummate insider, friends with everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Reese Witherspoon. How do you reel back and pounce on celebrities in your comedy when they are your intimates?

I don't think I've ever become friends with someone I would make fun of. I'm not all of a sudden palling around with Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. Any of the famous people I'm friends with, it's because I've always respected them.

If you take anything I'm saying too seriously, then you shouldn't be paying attention in the first place.

Have you apologized for a joke or a bit?

I try not to apologize, especially publicly. That's a slippery slope, because I'm a comedian. If you take anything I'm saying too seriously, then you shouldn't be paying attention in the first place. If you find me offensive, don't follow me.